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May 15, 2013

Syrian government troops and rebels
have clashed around a prison in the flashpoint northern city of Aleppo.

Reports suggest the rebel fighters may have tried to blow up the walls of the
prison, which holds some 4,000 inmates.

Activists said government forces had counter-attacked using tank shells and
air raids.

Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) vowed to punish criminals after a
video appeared apparently showing a rebel biting a dead soldier's organs.

In Aleppo, rebels appear to have detonated car bombs outside the walls of the
prison on Wednesday morning, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group.

Government sources claimed to have fought back, injuring and killing
opposition fighters.

Clashes were still continuing early on Wednesday afternoon, according to a
BBC reporter in Damascus.

The FSA put out a statement saying its field commanders had been instructed
to "to begin a prompt investigation" into the video in which a well-known
insurgent from the city of Homs, Abu Sakkar, is shown apparently cutting out the
soldier's heart.

"Any act contrary to the values that the Syrian people have paid their blood
and lost their homes to will not be tolerated, the abuser will be punished
severely even if they are associated with the Free Syrian Army," the FSA said,
according to AFP news agency.

"The perpetrator will be brought to justice," it said.

In the video, which cannot be independently authenticated, Abu Sakkar is
shown standing over the soldier's corpse, saying: "I swear to God we will eat
your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog."

US-based Human Rights Watch said his actions were a war crime.

Also on Wednesday, a US-based web monitoring company said that Syria appeared
to be experiencing a nationwide internet blackout for the third time in six
months.

Renesys
Corporation said that Syrian internet services had gone offline at 10:00
local time (07:00 GMT).

The UN says nearly 80,000 people have been killed since the uprising against
President Assad began in March 2011, and millions have fled their homes.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino
has sent a representative to apologise for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman,
his spokesman said, amid a deepening row.

The envoy would convey "deep regret and apology" over the incident, spokesman
Edwin Lacierda said.

The move came hours after Taiwan suspended hiring Filipino workers and
recalled its envoy from Manila.

Taiwan said the move showed President Ma Ying-jeou's "strong dissatisfaction"
with Manila's handling of the case.

Taipei had earlier rejected an apology from the Philippines' top diplomat in
Taipei.

The fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng, was shot by the Philippine coast guard last
week in waters both sides claim.

Mr Aquino had sent Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman Amadeo Perez
as his personal representative to "convey his and the Filipino people's deep
regret and apology" to the fisherman's family, Mr Lacierda the
president's spokesperson said in a statement late on Wednesday afternoon.

There was no immediate response from Taipei. A Taiwan
Foreign Ministry spokesperson had earlier suggested that the envoy was ""not
sufficiently authorised" and would not be met, Taiwan's state-run news agency
CNA reported.

Taiwan rejected an apology early on Wednesday from Antonio Basilio, head of
the Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan.

Mr Basilio, whose apology came after a three-day deadline set by Taiwan
expired, said that Manila had agreed to compensate the fisherman's family and
conduct a joint investigation into the incident.

However, Taiwan's president felt the apology did not come from a high enough
authority and lacked "sincerity", his spokeswoman said.

He suspended the processing of work visas for Filipinos and asked Mr Basilio
to return to the Philippines to "help properly handle" the case.

Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah also told reporters that
he was dissatisfied with the apology because it came from the representative
office, not the Philippine government, and because the statement had been
changed several times.

Taiwan instead demanded a "formal apology" from Manila, compensation for the
victim's family, investigation and punishment for those responsible for the
shooting, and the commencement of bilateral fishing talks.

It threatened more measures if such an apology was not forthcoming, including
issuing a travel warning to discourage Taiwanese people from visiting the
Philippines, stopping all high-level exchanges and carrying out a military
exercise in the disputed waters.'Honest
living'
In Manila, Mr Lacierda said that government had "already started" an
investigation, and was committed to a "thorough, exhaustive, impartial and
expeditious investigation".

"We understand the grief and hurt of the family and of the people of Taiwan
over this unfortunate loss and we empathise with them," he added in the
statement.

He urged Taiwan not to involve Filipino workers in the country, saying that
were "there working for an honest living".

There are about 88,000 Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan, most of whom work
in the manufacturing sector, the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei reports.

Taiwan's labour office receives around 3,000 work applications from the
Philippines each month, our correspondent adds.

Mr Hung, the 65-year-old fisherman, was shot dead on 9 May when the
coastguard vessel opened fire on his boat.

He was in waters south-east of Taiwan and north of the Philippines, an area
considered by both countries to be their 200 nautical mile-from-shore exclusive
economic zone.

The Philippine coast guard said its crew believed he was trying to ram their
vessel - claims the Taiwanese fishermen have denied.

Maritime tensions in the South China Sea have been heightened in recent
months. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have
competing territorial claims in the region.

These disputes have existed for years but in recent months China has been
taking a more assertive stance - prompting a robust response from some nations.

Hundreds of thousands of people are
being evacuated from coastal areas of Bangladesh threatened by Cyclone
Mahasen.

The Bangladeshi authorities have raised the danger level to seven out of 10
for low-lying areas around Chittagong and the coastal district of Cox's Bazar.

The cyclone, heading north-east through the Bay of Bengal, is estimated to
reach land on Thursday.

Burma is also threatened and evacuation efforts are under way there.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims living in camps in low-lying areas of
Burma's Rakhine state are feared to be at risk.

They were displaced by ethnic violence last year and many are reluctant to
move from the camps.

Damaging winds, a storm surge and torrential rain.

Hla Maung said he lost his mother and two young daughters during the clashes
between Muslims and Buddhists.

I lost everything ... I don't want to go anywhere. I'll stay here. If I die, I
want to die here," he said.
The country's National Planning Minister, Tin Naing Thein, said more than
150,000 people had been relocated to higher ground. The government said a fifth
of those were Rohingyas.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the storm could create a surge
2m high in coastal districts and residents are being urged to make for cyclone
shelters.

The airport in Cox's Bazar has closed and Chittagong airport is to shut over
the next few hours.

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said
Cyclone Mahasen appeared to have weakened to a Category One storm.

But the UN still described it as "life-threatening" for 8.2 million people in
Bangladesh, Burma and north-east India.

At least 50 Rohingya Muslims were feared drowned on Tuesday when boats
evacuating them from the path of the cyclone capsized off western Burma.

More than 100,000 people died in 2008 when Cyclone Nargis devastated many of
Burma's coastal villages.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
has declared a state of emergency in three states after a series of deadly
attacks by Islamist militant groups.

The military will take "all necessary action" to "put an end to the impunity
of insurgents and terrorists" in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, he said.

Mr Jonathan also ordered more troops to be sent to the north-eastern
states.

Militants from Boko Haram have been blamed for most of the violence, which
has left 2,000 people dead since 2010.

The Islamist group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the
local Hausa language, is fighting to overthrow the government and create an
Islamic state in the north.

Nigeria - a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million
people - is also affected by a spate of conflicts over land, religion and oil.

In the latest violence, 53 people were killed and 13 villages burnt in
central Nigeria's Benue state on Tuesday.

The conflict, which started last week, is said to have been caused by a
dispute over land ownership between cattle herders and farmers. 'We will hunt them down'
In a pre-recorded address broadcast on Tuesday, President Jonathan said:
"What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and
insurgency by terrorist groups which pose a very serious threat to national
unity and territorial integrity."

Referring to recent attacks on government buildings and killings of officials
and other civilians, he said that "these actions amount to a declaration of
war".

"We will hunt them down, we will fish them out, and we will bring them to
justice," the president said.

"The chief of defence staff has been directed to immediately deploy more
troops to these states for more effective internal security operations.

"The troops and other security agencies involved in these operations have
orders to take all necessary action... to put an end to the impunity of
insurgents and terrorists."

At the same time, he stressed that - despite the state of emergency -
politicians in the three states would remain in their posts.

The president has the power to sack local politicians and install a caretaker
government in emergency circumstances.

"Already, some northern parts of Borno state have been taken over by groups
whose allegiance are to different flags than Nigeria's," he said.

Later, a spokesman for the president, Doyin Okupe, said the governors of
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa had been "very well briefed" and were "in full support"
of the decision to declare a state of emergency.

"There's a need for the government to step in and do the necessary to once
and for all find a way out of this quagmire," he said.

On Monday, the Nigeria Governors' Forum, which represents the leaders of the
country's 36 states, warned Mr Jonathan against imposing emergency rule.

It is not the first time that the president has declared a state of
emergency, but this is a clear admission that far from being weakened by the
army offensive, the threat of the Islamist militants is growing.

And it is the first time that Mr Jonathan has admitted that parts of the
country are no longer under central government control, says our correspondent.

Last week, Mr Jonathan had to cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with
the growing violence.

The European Union will pledge 520m
euros (£442m; $673m) to help rebuild Mali, at a conference of international
donors in Brussels.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the money would help
the West African state become "stable, democratic and prosperous".

The conference is the first since France sent troops to oust Islamist rebels
from northern Mali in January.

Mali's government has a 4.3bn-euro plan for "a total relaunch of the
country".

It includes rebuilding government institutions and the military, repairing
damaged infrastructure, organising presidential elections, holding dialogue with
rebel groups in the north, and stimulating the economy.

After meeting the European Commission chief in Brussels on Tuesday, Mali's
interim President Dioncounda Traore said he hoped about 2bn euros would be
raised at the donors' conference.

I think that's a good start," he told a news conference. "Tomorrow or the day
after tomorrow, in a week or in a month, it is clear that the international
community, the European Union, will inject a lot more than that."
Mr Barroso said the aid would benefit Europe as well as Africa.

"The support of the international community is essential to establish a Mali
that is stable, democratic and prosperous," he added. "But the principal actors
in this transition are the Malians themselves and their government."

He said the EU welcomed the Transition Roadmap, aimed at establishing a full
return to democracy and stability in the country, and the Plan for the
Sustainable Recovery of Mali, which Malian officials will present at the
conference on Wednesday.

Officials say 103 international delegations, including 10 heads of state and
government, will attend the meeting, which was organised by Mr Barroso, Mr
Traore and French President Francois Hollande.

Since the French-led military intervention at the start of the year, the
Islamist rebels have been pushed back from the main urban centres of northern
Mali. However, some fighters have retreated to hideouts in the mountains and
desert, from where they launch isolated attacks.

Tens of thousands of refugees also remain in neighbouring Burkina Faso,
Mauritania and Niger.

France nevertheless began withdrawing the first of its 4,500 troops in the
country last month. It hopes to have only 1,000 remaining by the end of the
year.

They are due to work alongside peacekeepers from the United Nations'
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma).

Mr Traore also told Tuesday's news conference that Mali's presidential
elections would take place on 28 July, after months of speculation about the
date. He said neither he nor any member of the transitional government would
stand in the poll.

BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the Islamists
were only able to occupy large parts of Mali in the first place because of
because of a weak and corrupt central government.

Rebuilding state institutions is therefore a priority, but it is also an
enormous task, our correspondent says.

Official figures show France has
entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in
the first quarter of the year.

Its economy shrank by the same amount in the last quarter of 2012. A
recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

France has record unemployment and low business and consumer confidence.

German figures, also released, showed its economy, the eurozone's strongest,
grew by just 0.1% in the first quarter.

France entered its worst recession since World War II in 2009. Although it
was thought to have been in recession in 2012, these figures have now been
revised to show only one quarter of negative growth.

The news comes on the first anniversary of Francois Hollande being sworn in
as president. Weakness
Earlier this month, the European Commission warned that France would enter
recession this year and said the eurozone's economy would shrink by 0.4%.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates at its last meeting to a record
low of 0.5% in an attempt to stimulate growth.

In France, the rate of unemployment is running at 10.6% and is forecast to
rise further next year.

Its deficit is also expected to rise sharply, the commission says, to 3.9% of
GDP - well above the EU deficit target of 3%.

But French unemployment is below the eurozone average, which was 11.4% in
2012 and is expected to hit an average of 12.2% this year. In both Greece and
Spain, it is expected to peak at 27%.

France this week passed a range of measures aimed at stopping the rise in
unemployment by reforming the country's labour laws.

These include measures to make it easier for workers to change jobs and for
companies to fire employees.

The French economy has performed better than other eurozone members,
including Spain and Italy, but it has not moved as quickly to reform its
economy.

One of the new bill's main measures is to allow companies to cut workers'
salaries or hours temporarily during times of sluggish economic performance,
something that is common in Germany.

The figure for German growth, the largest and still the strongest economy in
the 17-strong eurozone, was far weaker than expected. Economists had expected to
see growth of 0.3% in the first quarter.

Annual figures from the Statistics Office also show the German economy has
shrunk by 1.4% when compared with a year ago.

But in a statement it said this was partly due to severe winter weather: "The
German economy is only slowly picking up steam. The extreme winter weather
played a role in this weak growth."

The World Health Organization says it
appears likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in
close contact.

This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man had
contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.

Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also reported to have died from the
virus, according to health officials.

NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials have expressed concern over the
clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to
spread.

Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases across Europe and the Middle
East, with 18 deaths, according to a recent WHO
update.

Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and have spread to
Germany, the UK and France.

"Of most concern... is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple
countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact
this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person," the World
Health Organization said on Sunday.

"This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some
small clusters and so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the
capacity to sustain generalised transmission in communities," the statement
adds.

France's second confirmed case was a 50-year-old man who
had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old
who fell ill with the virus after returning from Dubai.

"Positive results [for the virus] have been confirmed for both patients," the
French health ministry said, adding that both men were being treated in
isolation wards.

Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health said on Sunday that two more
people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the number of fatalities to nine
in the most recent outbreak in al-Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia,
Reuters news agency reports.

The Saudi health ministry said that 15 people had died out of the 24 cases
diagnosed since last summer.

WHO officials have not yet confirmed the latest deaths.

In February, a patient died in a hospital in Birmingham, England, after three
members of the same family became infected.

It is thought a family member had picked up the virus while travelling to the
Middle East and Pakistan.

Novel coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused
an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in
2003.

However, NCoV and Sars are distinct from each other, the WHO said in its
statement on Sunday.

Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory infections in both humans and
animals.

But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of an existing virus or an
infection in animals that has made the jump to humans.

May 12, 2013

Pope Francis has proclaimed the first
saints of his pontificate in a ceremony at the Vatican - a list which includes
800 victims of an atrocity carried out by Ottoman soldiers in 1480.

They were beheaded in the southern Italian town of Otranto after refusing to
convert to Islam.

Their names are unknown, apart from one man, Antonio Primaldo.

Within two months of taking office, Pope Francis has proclaimed more saints
than any of his predecessors.

Among those canonised on Sunday were two Latin American
nuns - Laura Montoya from Colombia and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala from Mexico
- who both died in the 20th Century.

Colombia's first saint, Mother Laura Montoya dedicated her life to helping
indigenous people while the woman named by Pope Francis as Mother "Lupita"
sheltered Catholics during a government crackdown against the faith in the
1920s.

The Italian "Martyrs of Otranto" were executed after 20,000 Turkish soldiers
invaded their town in south-eastern Italy.

There was no hint of any anti-Islamic sentiment in the homily that Pope
Francis delivered before tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in St Peter's
Square, the BBC's David Willey in Rome reports.

While it was Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict, who gave the go ahead for
their canonisations, the new pope is continuing the process of honouring a new
generation of modern as well as historic martyrs, our correspondent says.

Later this month an Italian priest, Fr Giuseppe Puglisi, who was murdered by
the Sicilian mafia 20 years ago will be beatified - the last step before being
declared a saint.

Syria has denied being responsible
for two car bombs which killed 46 people in a Turkish border town.

Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told a news conference on Sunday his
country "did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values
would not allow that".

Turkish police say that nine people have been arrested in connection with
Saturday's attacks in Reyhanli.

Ankara has said that it suspects the involvement of Syrian intelligence.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would not be dragged
into a "bloody quagmire".

He called on Turks to be "extremely careful, extremely vigilant... in the
face of provocations".

"We will not be trapped. The aim of these attacks is to pit Turks against
each other and create chaos. So I call on all my citizens to keep calm."

The Turkish government said on Sunday that the number of people killed in the
blasts had risen to 46 and that more than 50 others were still being treated in
hospital.

All nine of those arrested in connection with the attacks were Turkish
citizens, officials said.

"This incident was carried out by an organisation which
is in close contact to pro-regime groups in Syria and I say this very clearly,
with the Syrian Mukhabarat," Interior Minister Muammer Guler told Turkish
TV.

Turkey, a Nato member, is a strong supporter of the opposition in Syria's
civil war and a vocal critic of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

The US and Nato have condemned the bombings and expressed support for Turkey.

Hundreds of mourners have been attending the funerals of the victims in
Reyhanli, which is home to many Syrian refugees.

Mr Zoubi said that "it is not anyone's right to hurl unfounded
accusations".

"We were saddened by the martyrs' deaths" [on] Saturday in the town of
Reyhanli," he said.

"It is [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan who should be asked
about this act. He and his party bear direct responsibility."

Mr Zoubi also launched what correspondents say was one of the harshest
personal attacks on Turkey's prime minister by an Syrian official so far. He
demanded that Mr Erdogan "step down as a killer and as a butcher".

It was a robust response from
Damascus, throwing responsibility for the blasts firmly back on the Turkish
authorities.

Mr Zoubi said it was the Turkish government that had facilitated the flow of
arms, explosives, vehicles, fighters and money across the border into Syria.

He said that this had turned the border areas into centres for international
terrorism and the Turkish leadership had to take political and moral
responsibility for it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has vowed to catch those behind the
attack. On Sunday he said that he believed fighters loyal to Syrian President
Assad were responsible.

The Syrian opposition coalition has added its voice to the Turkish
accusations that Damascus was behind the bombings, saying it was a blatant
attempt to drive a wedge between Turkey and the thousands of Syrian refugees who
have been given shelter on the Turkish side of the border.

Mr Davutoglu said that the attacks "have nothing to do with the Syrian
refugees in Turkey, it's got everything to do with the Syrian regime".

He said that it was "not a coincidence" that the bombings occurred as
diplomatic efforts to solve the Syrian crisis were intensifying.

"There may be those who want to sabotage Turkey's peace, but we will not
allow that," he said.

"No-one should attempt to test Turkey's power. Our security forces will take
all necessary measures."

He said those behind Saturday's bombings were believed also to have been
behind an attack on the Syrian coastal town of Banias a week ago, in which
fighters backing President Assad in the civil war were reported to have killed
at least 62 people.

Reyhanli is an entry point for refugees fleeing violence in Syria and local
people attacked Syrian refugees and cars with Syrian number plates after the
attack, according to local media.

The Turkish government said the bombings were intended to pit Turks against
Syrian refugees in Reyhanli, adding that refugees had no role in the attack.

Mr Erdogan's policy on Syria has always been to support the Syrian opposition
but not become involved in the war, but the attacks now make it very difficult
for him to carry on staying out of the conflict, our correspondent says.

He is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday with
the US currently considering its options over Syria.

There has been some speculation that the bomb attacks may strengthen the hand
of those urging the creation of a no-fly zone and safe haven for the Syrian
opposition inside Syrian territory.

Parliament passed a law last week barring Gaddafi-era officials from
political office.

About 1,000 civilians came to demonstrate outside the foreign ministry on
Friday night but some were attacked and beaten, their placards torn down by the
gunmen, the BBC's Rana Jawad reports from Tripoli.

Mr Marghani said his ministry was back under the control of the judicial police
and staff had been at work on Saturday "for a couple of hours".

"We hope this does not happen again and that lessons have been learnt that
state institutions should not be touched," he added.

"The use of weapons should not be on the table. It causes all sorts of
problems for this emerging democracy."

He said an agreement had been reached that the foreign ministry would be
handed back to officials on Sunday.

The gunmen were calling for a political isolation law to be passed banning
officials who served under the late Muammar Gaddafi from senior government
posts.

Since Gaddafi's death, Tripoli and other Libyan cities have been plagued by
violence and infighting.

The government has recently tried to dismantle militias that formed during
and after the war that toppled the long-time leader.

The bill passed by parliament has been criticised for being too vague, but as
it stands, would likely affect several currently serving officials.

Firms that shift profits to lower tax jurisdictions cost Africa $38bn (£25bn)
a year, says a report produced by a panel he heads.

"Africa loses twice as much money through these loopholes as it gets from
donors," Mr Annan said.

It was like taking food off the tables of the poor, he said.

The Africa Progress Report is released every May - produced by a panel of 10
prominent figures, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and
Graca Machel, the wife of South African ex-President Nelson Mandela.

African countries needed to improve governance and the world's richest
nations should help introduce global rules on transparency and taxation, Mr
Annan said.

The report gave the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example, where between
2010 and 2012 five under-priced mining concessions were sold in "highly opaque
and secretive deals".

This cost the country, which the charity Save the Children said earlier this
week was the world's worst place to be a mother, $1.3bn in revenues.

This figure was equivalent to double DR Congo's health and education budgets
combined, the report said.

DR Congo's mining minister disputed the findings, saying the country had
"lost nothing".

The report added that many mineral-rich countries needed "urgently to review
the design of their tax regimes", which were designed to attract foreign
investment when commodity prices were low.

It quotes a review in Zambia which found that between 2005 and 2009, 500,000
copper mine workers were paying a higher rate of tax than major multinational
mining firms.

Africa loses more through what it calls "illicit outflows" than it gets in
aid and foreign direct investment, it explains.

"We are not getting the revenues we deserve often because of either corrupt
practices, transfer pricing, tax evasion and all sorts of activities that
deprive us of our due," Mr Annan told the BBC's Newsday programme.

"Transparency is a powerful tool," he said, adding that the report was urging
African leaders to put "accountability centre stage".

Mr Annan said African governments needed to insist that local companies
became involved in mining deals and manage them in "such a way that it also
creates employment".

"This Africa cannot do alone. The tax evasion, avoidance, secret bank
accounts are problems for the world… so we all need to work together
particularly the G8, as they meet next month, to work to ensure we have a
multilateral solution to this crisis," he said.

For richer nations "if a company avoids tax or transfers the money to
offshore account what they lose is revenues", Mr Annan said.

"Here on our continent, it affects the life of women and children - in effect
in some situations it is like taking food off the table for the poor."

He came to the US in March and kept contact with an undercover FBI agent
before his 22 April arrest, they said.

Mr Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, are charged with conspiracy to carry
out an attack and kill people.

An indictment against Mr Abassi, unsealed on Thursday, alleged he came from
Canada and was fraudulently seeking a US work visa in order to "facilitate an
act of international terrorism".

US
Attorney for Manhattan Preet Bharara said: "As alleged, Ahmed Abassi had an
evil purpose for seeking to remain in the United States - to commit acts of
terror and develop a network of terrorists here, and to use this country as a
base to support the efforts of terrorists internationally."

In recorded conversations between the two men, Mr Abassi expressed his desire
to "engage in terrorist acts against targets in the United States and other
countries", the justice department said in a statement.

He was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport, authorities
said.

Mr Abassi was also recorded talking about his desire to aid militant groups,
including the al-Nusra Front.

That group has been described by the US as a front for al-Qaeda in Iraq, and
has gained support in rebel-held parts of Syria.

Canadian media have reported the investigation into Mr Esseghaier and Mr
Jaser was launched after a tip-off by a concerned imam in the Toronto Muslim
community.

Authorities had been tracking Mr Esseghaier for two years before beginning to
investigate the alleged plot in August 2012.

A sailor has died after a Swedish catamaran capsized
during a practice session for the America's Cup in San Francisco Bay, local
media report.

The San Francisco Fire Department said the man was one of two people injured
when the Artemis Racing catamaran capsized near Treasure Island.

They were brought ashore and one was pronounced dead a short time later.

Artemis is a Swedish team due to race two boats in the America's Cup being
held in San Francisco this summer.

Reports said one of the crew had been trapped under the capsized 72ft (22m)
boat for about 10 minutes.

The America's Cup website did not confirm the death but said support boats
were at the scene to help in the recovery.

San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge was quoted by the
Associated Press as saying the two brought to shore were taken to the St Francis
Yacht Club where paramedics performed CPR on one of them.

The other person's injuries were not life-threatening, she said.

The rest of the crew from the capsized boat were transferred to a support
boat operated by Oracle Racing, which is defending its America's Cup title from
last year, officials said.

Lt Jeannie Crump of the Coast Guard said it was not yet clear what caused the
boat to capsize.

May 9, 2013

The son of former Pakistani Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen during an
election rally.

Mr Gilani told the BBC his son Ali Haider - a candidate for the Pakistan
Peoples' Party (PPP) - was seized in the central city of Multan.

He accused his political opponents of being behind the attack, which came
ahead of Saturday's elections.

One person was reportedly killed when the attackers opened fire at the
rally.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack.

Eyewitnesses say the gunmen arrived at the gathering in a black Honda car and
on a motorbike.

"A couple of them started shooting," a teenager at the rally told Pakistan's
Geo TV.

"A man standing in front of Gilani was hit and fell down. Then they grabbed
Gilani, put him in the car and sped away."

Reports say the person who died in the shooting was one of Ali Haider
Gilani's aides. Another five people were injured.

Some of those who saw the attack say there was also blood on Ali Haider.
Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper quotes eyewitnesses saying he was hit by a
bullet, but this is not confirmed.

Ali Haider - the youngest son of the ex-prime minister -
is contesting a seat in the Punjab provincial assembly.

"We want our brother back tonight. If we don't get him, we will not allow
elections to be held in our area," his elder brother Ali Musa - who was in tears
- later told reporters.

Police have now sealed off all entry and exit points in Multan, and a massive
search operation is under way, local media report.

Yousuf Raza Gilani served as prime minister until June 2012, when he was
forced out of office by the Supreme Court over his refusal to pursue a
corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

But the Gilanis are still a powerful political family, with the two sons
standing in elections to the provincial and national assemblies, the BBC's Mike
Wooldridge in Islamabad reports.

Who was behind Thursday's attack, and their motive, remains unclear.

Kidnapping is a tactic frequently used by militants and criminal groups
across Pakistan. Ransom is an important revenue stream for the Pakistani Taliban
and hostages can be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the
authorities, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says.

Among the most prominent Taliban hostages is Shahbaz Taseer, the son of
assassinated Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was snatched in Lahore in 2011
and remains in captivity.

At least 30 police officers in
Nigeria have been killed in an ambush by a local militia in the central Nasarawa
state, officials have said.

They were on their way to arrest the leader of the outlawed Ombatse "cult"
when gunmen opened fire, a state spokesman told the BBC.

Sani Musa Mairiga said they were forcing local villagers to swear an oath of
allegiance to the group.

The state police chief said that 17 officers were still missing.

One source at the hospital where the bodies were taken told the BBC dozens
more policemen were killed in the attack.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has cut short his visit to South Africa
and cancelled a state visit to Namibia to oversee the response to the latest
violence.

Nasarawa police chief Abayomi Akeremale said about 60 police officers came
under attack on Tuesday.

"We decided to send our men to the area to arrest members of Ombatse,
including their priest," he told the AFP news agency.

"[They] have been going to churches and mosques initiating people into their
cult by forcefully administering an allegiance oath to unwilling people."

The police were attacked near the shrine to the traditional deity of the
Eggon people, in the village of Alakyo, near the state capital, Lafia.

The ambush came after 55 people were reportedly killed in the north-east of
Nigeria in co-ordinated attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist militant group.

The Nigerian army said 105 prisoners were freed in Tuesday's pre-dawn raid in
Bama, Borno state.

Bama's police station, military barracks and government buildings were burned
to the ground, said the military and witnesses.

A statement from the president's office said Mr Jonathan was returning to
Abuja "to personally oversee efforts by national security agencies to contain
the fresh challenges to national security which have emerged this week in Borno,
Plateau and Nasarawa States".

Oh his arrival back in Nigeria, Mr Jonathan is set to head a meeting
reviewing Nigeria's security situation with the country's military and police
chiefs.

The Ombatse, which means "the time has come" in the Eggon language, say they
are fighting against social vices such as alcohol and adultery.

The Eggon community are a microcosm of Nigeria - they are said to be evenly
divided between Christians and Muslims but many people continue to follow
traditional religions.

There are about 250 different ethnic groups in Nigeria, some with their own
traditional belief systems.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said the murder charges were based on
evidence from one of the women held captive in Mr Castro's house that he had
impregnated her, then physically abused and starved her in order to induce
miscarriages.

"I fully intend to seek charges for each and every act of sexual violence, rape,
each day of kidnapping, every felonious assault, all his attempted murders, and
each act of aggravated murder he committed by terminating pregnancies that the
offender perpetuated against the hostages during this decade-long ordeal," Mr
McGinty told a news conference.

"My office will also engage in a formal process in which we evaluate to seek
charges eligible for the death penalty.

"The reality is we still have brutal criminals in our midst who have no
respect for the rule of law or human life. The law of Ohio calls for the death
penalty for those most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during
the course of a kidnapping."

"This child kidnapper operated a torture chamber and private prison in the
heart of our city," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Castro appeared in court in Cleveland, handcuffed and
dressed in blue overalls. He did not enter a plea.

He is charged with four counts of kidnapping, covering the three initial
abduction victims and Jocelyn, Ms Berry's six-year-old daughter, who was
apparently conceived and born in captivity.

The former school bus driver also faces three counts of rape, one against
each woman.